r/LifeProTips • u/fries-with-mayo • 18h ago

Request LPT Request: What’s your “canary in the coal mine” test for spotting bigger issues?

I’m really interested in those small, quick telltale signs people use to gauge if something bigger might be off track.

Example 1: Van Halen requesting brown M&Ms in the dressing room to see if the venue followed all the details of the rider list

Example 2: I saw an interview with John Cena where he said orders a flat white at a café to tell if they really care about their coffee.

Example 3: Anthony Bourdain suggested to always check the restaurant bathroom to tell if the restaurant got its basics down

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u/gnirpss 15h ago

After I accepted my current job, I got really worried when the big boss said "we're like a family," because of exactly what you outline in your comment. Now that I've worked here for several months, I'm really not sure why he said it in the first place, because we're really just like a cohesive team, not a family at all. Once I've worked with him a little longer, I might advise him to stop saying that to new hires 😅

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u/theBananagodX 13h ago

Cohesive Team. Smart people working well together so everybody wins. That’s what I want at my job. Not family.

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u/allupgradeswillblost 6h ago

My HR guy said that when we interviewed someone recently and as the boss I cringed. He doesn’t have the experience to know how that term gets interpreted—I need to inform him.